Archive for the Series Category


Yuri Manga: Gunsmith Cats Burst, Volume 5

February 4th, 2009

Finally, the ending that Gunsmith Cats always deserved.

**Warning: This review is one big spoiler, so don’t read it if you don’t want to know how the series ends.**

In Volume 4 of GSC Burst, we were treated to the return of Goldie Musou, Mafia boss and one of my personal favorite Evil Psycho Lesbians. After many gunshots, chases, hand grenades and other typical mayhem, Goldie regained her memory, which had been lost (a decade ago our time) after she had had her own drug administered to her in large, brain-killing quantities.

In Volume 5, some time has passed and Rally is wrapping up a few things, as she prepares to close Gunsmith Cats and leave Chicago. May and Ken are just returning from a honeymoon in Japan. Loli fans will be pleased to wallow in a chapter where May tries on many stereotypical cosplay outfits, as long as they don’t think about why she has them in the first place.

Rally hasn’t heard from Misty – except through a short, tense message from Roy, in which the former thief expressed her desire to not see Rally for a while. While out in town, Rally accidentally sees Misty, who consents to at least talk to her. Misty explains that she’s living with Goldie now. Rally’s asbolutely horrified, sure that Misty is being brainwashed, but she says no, it’s honestly her own choice.

We see that Misty, Goldie and Goldie’s maid – with whom Misty had struck up a pretty friendly sort of relationship in Volume 4 – are living together in a cheerful threesome. Misty’s big issue is her concern that Goldie might be using her as a replacement for Rally. Despite Goldie’s insistence that Misty is Misty, her fears are confirmed when she finds a secret room in Goldie’s mansion that is clearly a shrine to the bounty hunter.

Becky obtains some information that leads her to believe that Goldie is selling a powerful new drug. Rally and May decide to rescue Misty, despite the former thief showing up and telling them flat out that that she does not need – or want – to be rescued. A lot of running around goes on – utimately we learn that yes, Goldie is selling a new drug, it is not terribly harmful and may actually be beneficial and honest-to-god, Misty is with Goldie by choice. (There’s also some Bean Bandit stuff going on through all this, but he bores me, so I am skipping it. Here’s the synopsis: Bean drives, car chase, guns, someone throwing up, bad guys lose, Bean’s chin remains pointy.)

May consults with the madam at her former brothel, who explains that Misty is an adult and they should butt out. May thinks back on everything she knows about Misty and realizes that they’ve know since the beginning that she’s a lesbian, and if you think about it, this really is none of their business.

Rally gives up trying to rescue Misty, who calls and asks if Rally will meet her. They go out to dinner, where Misty says that she was worried about Goldie’s feelings. Rally asks, aren’t you doing the same thing – using Goldie as a replacement for me? Misty agrees that she is, and has come to a place of balance with herself about it. She really, honestly loved Rally and wanted her, but Rally was never interested. So, she has Goldie and she’s pretty happy with that – after all, Goldie is a powerful leader, filthy rich and a good lover. And, she admits, she’s a thief, from a long line of criminals. Being at Goldie’s side isn’t a bad fit for her.

As she and Rally part, Misty asks for one favor, which Rally correctly guesses is a goodbye kiss. (It is made very plain in this book that Rally, despite what most fans have assumed, has never been clueless about Misty’s feelings.) She and Misty kiss for three pages – Rally even goes so far as to grope her ass a bit (maybe just getting a better grip? ^_^) It was a hell of a goodbye kiss. They part with a wave and a wish for the best.

The epilogue shows us Goldie, still a Mafia don, and Misty, living together. May and Ken with a child, Roy moved up to a nice position in a pleasant part of town; Becky has switched her info skills to the more lucrative world of finance and nothing at all changes with Bean.

Rally packs her bag and heads off to parts unknown to work on her shooting/people hunting skills, maybe to return to Chicago one day.

The End.

I could not have asked for better.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 5

Overall – 9

I think we can safely put the period on this series. But my hat’s off to Sonoda for allowing us a glimpse of what we’ve always known about Rally and for Misty and Goldie together as an actual lesbian couple.

Here’s a toast to the recovery of the economy and to Dark Horse eventually putting out Volumes 4 and 5 in English.

And thanks to Nettogrof for pointing out that the flag that was puzzling me in the manga is the flag of the City of Chicago.





Maria-sama ga Miteru New Year’s Eve Event Report

February 1st, 2009

Today’s post is a report from Bruce Pregger, a long-time Yuricon staffer, one of my best lackeys and a very good friend. We’ve been in the habit of visiting Japan at New Year’s with him, for Comiket and shrine visits. This year he had to go by himself – which makes this a very good time to thank him from the bottom of my heart for all the crap he picked up and lugged home for me. I love every single thing. Bruce – you’ll find yourself (somewhat belatedly) on the Okazu Superhero roll.

On New Year’s Eve this past year, there was a Maria-sama ga Miteru event held at movie theaters country-wide. Happily for all of us, Bruce was able to go. Here is his report:

As I was about to leave on a holiday trip to Tokyo, Erica informed me about a Maria-sama ga Miteru New Year’s Eve Special Event, taking place in connection with the start of the fourth season. The event was going to be held at all Warner-Mycal Cinemas throughout Japan. It was something I knew I had to try to see. As luck would have it one of these cinemas was in the suburban town of Tobu-Nerima, a relatively easy train ride from my Ikebukuro hotel. So on New Year’s Eve I headed out through the blue holiday lights to see how Yumi and Sachiko would fare in a Warner Brothers setting. The cinema was on the top floor of a department store, along with five or six restaurants, just one floor up from the smiling tofu furniture. The event ticket was 1300 yen, a little over $14. Next to the theater there was a concession area selling mostly Warner Brothers character goods, but in the center was a kiosk stocked with all kinds of Marimite items. It was a breathtaking sight. Up until then I had found dreadfully few Marimite goods anywhere in Tokyo. So I happily piled armfuls of the stuff onto the counter. To her credit the woman behind the register reacted calmly, as though hyperventilating American Marimite fans show up in Tobu-Nerima all the time.

After cheerfully taking all my money she inquired whether I had gotten my cup. Cup? She led me around to the the drink counter, where my ticket entitled me to a limited edition Marimite New Year’s Eve Special Event lidded drink cup. The lids came in yellow and red. I don’t know what happened to the white ones. On entering the theater I was handed a pair of 3-D glasses. The special event was getting more special by the minute.

The theater was about half full, maybe 150 people, approximately 80% male, every one clutching a pink cup. The theater manager came out and welcomed us to the event. The first part of the show was the premier of the new season’s first episode. It was great seeing it on the big screen, though the opening was startling – the song bright and snappy, Yumi and friends hopping in and out of magic portals, white sailor collars fluttering wildly…. But the episode itself was back down to earth. And the ending credits were exceptionally charming. Next came a video greeting from Kana Ueda and Miki Ito, the voice actresses for Yumi and Sachiko, who asked us to put on our glasses as they mugged in 3-D for the camera. Then came the final presentation. This was a long music video made from clips of the first two seasons that had been fully three-dimensionalized. It followed the three rose families in turn, with music from the series. It was wild. The audience was simultaneously brushing away a tear and ducking out-thrust rosaries. And I have to state that Sei is every bit as fun in three dimensions as in two. It was wonderful, and at the end I thought some applause would be appropriate, but the audience enjoyed it all in silence. When the lights came on the manager reappeared, thanking us for attending, and urging us to purchase even more items at the concession stand. It was all a tremendous amount of fun, and a great way to end the year.

Erica again: Bruce, no doubt the waves of jealousy and envy will batter you appropriately. But thank you so very, very much for my teen-weeny little mascot figurines and the towels and the report! Next year in Tokyo.

Before I forget, today was the Girls Love doujinshi event in Japan. I’ll see if I can’t find a report on it to share. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Season 1 Box Set (English)

January 25th, 2009

I’m just as likely to retcon my opinions as the next person. Only, I tend to go the opposite way from most. Instead of remembering the first thing as the best ever, never to be repeated or surpassed, I tend to like the newest and latest, and avoid going back to the orginal. When I first watched this series I was not impressed but, as the series went on, as the second and finally third season built up the characters and the situations, I began to like it more. By the time I finshed watching StrikerS, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. So, it was with some trepidation that I stepped back more than four years to watch the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha season box set. Would I hate it? Like it? Well….

The story begins with typical 3rd-grader Takamachi Nanoha who finds herself embroiled in the typical magical girl setup of a magical creature who gives her both the power and imprimatur to collect a number of magical items. If left unchecked, these items will inhabit various organic beings and inorganic objects and cause havoc. Also quite typically, she is opposed in this task by an equally magical rival of the same age, in this case, the “girl with the gentle eyes,” Fate Testarossa.

Nanoha becomes more interested in hearing Fate’s story and trying to work with her than anything else – and Fate’s story, when we learn it, is orders of trauma above the typical magical girl series. Her mother, insane from the loss of a child, is driven by a hopeless obsession. Precia’s emotional and physical torture of Fate is extremely distressing, making us root for Nanoha to break through the wall that separates her and Fate just that much harder.

Of course, Nanoha does break through that wall, saving both the world as we know it, and Fate herself, by beating Fate down. Thus she sets up the precident of herself as the “White Devil,” and the also-typical “Dragonball Phenomenon” wherein all former enemies, once defeated, become allies. It’s all so comforting. ^_^ (This is a good point to note that the “White Devil”s particular form of “befriending” shows up right in the middle of the opening song, when the lyrics say something like “I will touch you with a love so soft,” as Nanoha is bring Raging Heart down on Fate’s head hard enough to crack her skull open. ^_^)

There are two things of note that set this series apart from the usual and typical. One is, of course, the intense interest Nanoha shows in Fate and the (obvious to Yuri fans) feelings Fate has for Nanoha. And I am still convinced that Suzuka and Arisa are also a couple, for no particular reason except that I’m a Yuri fan too. ^_^

The second is the sudden appearance of a completely different anime in the middle of the story. The Time Space Administration Bureau’s appearance and absorption of the story takes it to a completely different place and plot – and sets up the tale for the next two series. There is no doubt in my mind that Nanoha was originally conceived of as a seinen version of the popular mahou shoujo series Card Captor Sakura. The wife, who had never seen any of this series, walked in on an early episode and immediately commented on the similarities. Watching this series now, knowing what I know, I found this to be a welcome mid-stream change for the anime. I was actually *happy* when the staff of the Asura join the fight and shift the setting.

In a nutshell, because of my particular form of retconning, I enjoyed this series much more this time, than I did the first time around. ^_^ (If you read Okazu regularly, this won’t surprise you too much. I’ve done it before…I’m sure I’ll do it again.)

There were a number of technical problems, however. Some were clearly because Funimation rescued this title from the Geneon pit. Others were original. The art, for instance. The art was inconsistent and in many places, plain old *bad.* Bad enough that I had a hard time looking at the screen. There were about 5 different groups working on this series, with styles that were so different that they really clashed. The “carnival head” group got the uber-moe scenes. The group that put in too much detail and made everyone move so much that they all looked like they had Parkinson’s disease, got all the “unnecessary service” scenes. I was glad when we switched away from either of those two groups, back to the three or so groups that kept the animation to boring standards of “you audience – hey you out there – you do the work.” ^_^

The translation started off pretty consistent and, to my joy, used “Raging Heart” for Nanoha’s device. Midway it switches to “Raising Heart.” (The editing/adapting went out the door about a third of the way through the series, as well. That, I assume, was the Geneon/Funimation switchover.

And there were some technical issues with the subtitles, like lines through the words. And surprisingly, the timing was *bad*. I never notice that kind of thing, really. If I noticed it – it was really, really bad.

Extras can be counted on one finger – double-sided covers for the DVD cases. Credits and adverts just don’t count as “extras” to me.

The only other thing I had an issue with was that I am still not happy with the nudity. I never will be. If there was version of this anime the had none, I’d be that much more pleased with it. It’s just not needed and the people it serves are not me. Thankfully, by about halfway through the series, that too is cast off for the new, shiny, magical dimension kick-ass fighting story.

Despite the problems, I was really enjoyed rewatching this series. It made me want to watch A’s right away, which I did, and I’m about to start on a marathon of StrikerS today. Nanoha is a series that bears watching, sticking with and repeating. I’m not sure I could use this series to turn a non-fan into a fan, but if you already like magical girl stories, it’s probably a shoo-in for something you’ll grow to like.

Ratings:

Art – At best 6 at worst 3
Story – Starts at 5 and ends up at 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Sevice – 8

Overall – 7

Paeans of praise and thanks to the sponsor of today’s feast, newly awarded Okazu Superhero Brent A! Brent – email me to get your new badge – with thanks for all the support you’ve shown for Okazu over the years!





Yuri News This Week – January 24, 2009

January 24th, 2009

Yuri Manga

Katherine wants you to know that Chapter 22 of Franken Fran has some old school horror Yuri for those of you who like that kind of thing. It was, IMHO very Black Jack meets Nightmare Before Christmas. Or maybe Ray. Interesting and worth a look, anyway.

Don’t forget to order your copy of Yuri Hime Wildrose 3, the newest anthology of softcore Yuri from Ichijinsha. It’s all nice and fine to read scans but remember, those don’t pay the bills. If you love Yuri, buy Yuri.

I’ve been asked by a number of people what the heck happened to some of the most recently released Yuri manga – Strawberry Shake Sweet 2, Hayate x Blade 9, Otome Kikan Greteland some others popped up on Amazon JP and just as quickly disappeared. It looks as if it was merely a case of popularity. All of them were relisted with a waiting period of 4-5 weeks, so clearly there were either distribution issues or they just plain sold out. I’m thinking it was the latter, personally.

Which leads me to today’s….

Snatches of Yuri

One of the other series to come and go quickly on Amazon JP is the Yuri-ful Gokujou. I haven’t the vaguest clue what it actually is about, except that it is ero and about the student council at a girls school – something that has never been done before. lol I’ll let you know more about it after I read it. It’s not back up for sale yet, but I expect to see it back soon – I’ll add a link then.

Panna Kiss is a moe Yuri manga about Nanako, who works at a bread shop and is at least marginally in love with her coworker. It looks to be all the same old-same old rehashed with plenty of maid outfit/bathing suit service, so if the most typical service-y tropes are your faves, this looks to be perfect.

Manatsu Labyrinth is about love among three girls in a girls school. Totally new territory, I know. ;-)

And lastly for today, we have Dorobo no Meijin, a Light Novel which appears to be written as a retrospective of a Yuri love in her youth by a woman who is now an adult.

***

Yuri Anime

This anime season and the next look pretty thin on Yuri. We’ve got Marimite for a little while longer, at least.

And this week, the first episode of Ichigo Mashimaro Encore went live.

***

We’ll wrap it up here for today, because I really need to go eat something.

See you next week for more Yuri News!





Yuri Anime: Strawberry Panic, Volume 5 (English)

January 15th, 2009

Strawberry Panic (ストロベリー・パニック!) Volume 5 reminds us that it is incredibly important to not write climactic moments of a series while drinking. In the sober light of day, that so-dramatic bout of selective amnesia seems a bit silly, and the thrilling tennis match between two popular contenders for the throne becomes an immensely mockable cross-fandom moment.

Volume 5 finds us on the doorstep of the climaxes of all of the many complications built up throughout the series. Nagisa and Shizuma are separated physically, their hearts still connected by love; Hikari and Amane so close to being together when an accident tears them apart…and all the other characters floating around affected by these four and unable to do much more than ameliorate their discomfort.

And the most important crisis, when Momomi and Kaname suffer an epic breakup. With slap.

The end of the volume is as melodramatically happy as the beginning is melodramatically tragic, and in the end, the girls all get their girls (with actual sex for the least likely couple,) except for Yaya, who sublimates her desire into torturing Tsubomi and Tamao who, like her namesake from Card Captor Sakura, will probably become a career alcoholic. ^_^

My sincere, sincere thanks to Media Blasters who really notched up their skills for this series and brought out the best possible version of this that we could have hoped – heck, brought it out at all, because what were the chances really, of this series being licensed? I hope that, if you think of yourself as a Yuri fan – and espcially if you say you love this series – you will buy it and let Media Blasters know that you will support their choice to bring Yuri series out on DVD.

Looking back at Strawberry Panic, I think that if I stick with Volume 3 and Volume 5, I’ll come close to finding a comfortable place for this series in my heart. I’ll never buy into the melodrama, but I can definitely enjoy the comedy. In conclusion, for what is likely to be the last post I ever write on this series, I stand by what I said originally said: SP is not a diamond in the rough, but let us call it an attractive riverstone, washed suprisingly clean and shiny by the many, many, MANY tons of water that has flowed downstream from clearer and cleaner sources. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 10
Service – 6

Overall – 8

I’m left with two thoughts. One – Amane’s amnesia seemed to go on for much longer than two episodes. And, two, I am once again reminded that Percival the stuffed bear might well be the most intelligent creature on Astrea Hill.